


Summoning Circle

by WarriorBeeoftheSea



Series: Carry On Countdown 2019 [6]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: (But no real spoilers), Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), M/M, NOV 30 - Vine/Meme Reference, Post-Book 2: Wayward Son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarriorBeeoftheSea/pseuds/WarriorBeeoftheSea
Summary: "Baz is missing!""What,again?"
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: Carry On Countdown 2019 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557757
Comments: 8
Kudos: 175
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	Summoning Circle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KrisRix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrisRix/gifts).



> Kris, my dear, I couldn't write a summoning circle fic and _not_ gift it to you. Happy (late) birthday!

**Simon**

The last thing I expect right now is a phone call from Baz (we usually text), so when my mobile starts playing the chime I set for him, I'm off the sofa and across the room right away.

Phone calls mean bad news.

"Baz? What's wrong?"

He snorts derisively on the other end of the line. "Why would you think there's something wrong?"

I flop down onto the sofa. "Well, last time you phoned me it was to tell me that your stepmother's father died."

"Right." He clears his throat. "It's nothing like that. It's just that... um, this is embarrassing, but..."

"Baz!" I just want him to spit it out. _Use your words!_ "What is it?"

"Well, I'm lost."

" _Lost?_ But _how?_ "

"I'd love to explain, Snow, but my mobile is almost dead and I need you to--"

The line goes silent.

Well, _fuck._

**Penny**

I'm studying in my room when Simon barrels through the door. "Baz is missing!"

"What, _again?_ "

Simon stops in his tracks. "Ah, no. Not like that. I mean, he called me because he got lost, but then his mobile died."

I lean back in my chair. "We could try a finding spell."

Simon frowns at me. " _You_ could try a finding spell."

I frown back at him. "Well, you could help me try a finding spell. Or..." I pause to think. "There's this summoning spell I've been eager to try. I really would need your help, I promise."

That gets a laugh out of him. "Fine. What do we do?"

**Simon**

Penny sends me off to find objects that remind me of Baz. Things that carry some of his essence, whatever that means.

"What, like his dirty socks?"

She just gives me this look that I'm pretty sure she picked up from Baz.

"What about this old Watford football jersey I found on my floor?" I step out of my room to show her.

She's pushed the living room furniture to the edges of the room, and she's on her hands and knees drawing a pentagram in the middle of the floor in sharpie.

"Uh, Pen? Is this gonna cost us our security deposit?"

She waves me off. "Don't worry about it," she says (in a voice that makes me worry about it a bit more).

I move closer to get a better look. "Why a pentagram? That's not real magic, yeah? That's just occult stuff. Doesn't do anything, I thought."

She finishes the final line, then looks up at me. "Ordinarily, yeah. It's all rubbish. But I'm using a spell based on a _joke_ about occult summoning circles."

I frown. "That seems oddly disrespectful."

She sits back on her heels, and finally notices the jersey I'm holding. "That should work." She pulls it from my hand, folds it haphazardly, and puts it over one of the points of the pentagram. "What else do you have?"

"Well," I start. "I was thinking of some of his posh products that smell like him, but I can't find where he put them."

"OK, then we improvise." She climbs to her feet and disappears into her room.

I'm about to follow her, but she emerges quickly, holding a small wooden plank in her hand. It has a hook, and I can't figure out what it is.

"It's a cedar closet freshener." She strides into the kitchen, and I know she's not going to explain further.

I wait in the living room, and she returns with a packet of tea. "What is that for?"

"Bergamot!" She says excitedly. "Earl grey." She over-emphasizes pressing the tea packet and the plank together, and grins. "Cedar and bergamot!"

"Oh!" I lean in to smell the combination. It's not perfect, but it stirs a sense memory. Me, in Baz's arms. Pressing my face into his neck. Breathing him in.

I nod, and Penny leans down to place the plank and the tea on another point.

"What else?"

I look around the flat for ideas. "Oh!" I go to the kitchen to rummage around in the cabinets. _He must have left some here._ I pull out a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, and return to the living room to show Penny. "Will this work?"

She moves her eyes in a way that makes me think she's holding back an eye roll.

"What? He really likes these!"

The corner of her mouth quirks up and she gestures to another point on the pentagram. I place the packet of crisps on top of it.

"All right." She crosses her arms. "We need two more things, and they have to be _really_ personal."

I frown. "Personal, how?"

She frowns like she's thinking. "Favorite book, maybe?"

"Oh!" I jump to the bookshelf. "He's always said his favorite book is _Les Miserables_." I find it on the shelf, and place it on an empty point on the floor.

I look excitedly at Penny, but she's still frowning. "What? Is that not good?"

"No, it's good Simon," she says. "Or it would be..." She hesitates. "…if that were actually his favorite book."

I blink at her. "He's said that's his favorite book. I know he has."

Penny rubs her forehead. "Yeah, well. Basil is a stuck up _liar._ " She strides into her room, leaving me to ponder my boyfriend having _lied_ to me.

She returns with a stack of books in her arms. "He loaned these to me. Said these are his _real_ favorites." She must read the look on my face. "I was sworn to secrecy, Simon."

"But... no secrets," I say lamely.

"I know, and I'm sorry. He was just embarrassed."

I reach out for one of the books to examine it. "Why would he be embarrassed-- _Oh_." I'm looking at the cover now, and see that it's a romance novel. The cover shows two muscular men with torn shirts embracing on the back of a horse.

I just gape at the cover for a moment.

Penny gently takes the book from my hand. "We share reading interests. So we trade books a lot."

I look at her dumbly. "Does this mean your favorite book isn't really Ulysses?"

She laughs a stupid, snorty laugh, and I join in. It feels good to laugh with Penelope.

She puts the stack of books over one of the last empty points, and pats it. "You should give these a try. You might like them."

I feel my face flush, but I can't disagree.

"Right, we need one more item, and then lots of candles."

We both stare at the near complete summoning circle.

"Would a.. um," I clear my throat. "Would a... love letter work?" I mumble this last part.

I risk a look at Penny's face. A grin is spreading across her face. "He writes you _love_ letters?"

My face is burning. "Well, yeah. I mean, he's written me one or two." ( _Seven_ , actually.)

Penny opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "You can't read them."

She pouts. "What happened to _no secrets_?" (She's teasing. I know she's not really angling to read Baz's letters to me.) 

"I don't know, Pen. What happened to _no secrets_ when you were lying to me about books?" I try to raise an eyebrow at her, but I can only raise both at the same time. I must look ridiculous, because Penny is laughing again.

She reaches over to hold my arm while she giggles. "Go get your letters, Simon."

I do. I fetch them from my room (I keep them in my nightstand so I can reread them when I can't sleep.) and place them on the final empty point of the pentagram. I feel magic ripple across the floor when I do. (It's not mine, and I can't touch it or hold it.)

Penny retrieves an armload of candles and matches from a cupboard in the kitchen. She tosses me the matches, and starts arranging the candles in a circle around the pentagram on the floor. I follow as she works and begin lighting them.

When we're done, we step back to look at our work. "This looks right creepy," I say.

Penny laughs. “Turn the lights down, and it'll look even creepier.”

I do, and it does.

Penny holds out her ring hand. " **Summoning circle, hope this works** ," she casts.

I stare at her. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's the spell?"

She waves her free hand at me without looking and hushes me. "You have no idea how many people have made this joke on Twitter. This phrase is an untapped powerhouse."

I shrug, and watch Penny's magic weave through and around the items on the floor. It seems like it's doing _something_ at least.

We wait. Penny turns to me finally, and reassures me, "If this doesn't work I'll try a more traditional finding spell--"

Almost before she's finished speaking, it feels like the air is sucked out of the room, and my ears pop. And then, with another pop, Baz materializes, standing in the center of the pentagram.

"Great snakes, you two, what did you do?"

I turn to Penny. "Is this spell going to zap the fuck out of me if I cross the circle?"

Penny rolls her eyes. "Of course not, Simon. This isn't _real_ occult magic." She holds up finger quotes on _real_.

I step over the line of candles and pull Baz into my arms. "I was worried, you knob."

Baz wraps his arms around me and tucks his head over my shoulder. "Thanks for rescuing me from a long walk in the country." I feel his face pull into a grin, where his cheek is brushing mine.

But then:

"Penny, why are my books out here?" 


End file.
